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It’s true, the new series Teachers on TV Land is a little lowbrow, its kind of a one-trick pony, and it’s been done before, to say the least. But it’s funny, smart, and feels like it could grow into itself if we give it enough room to do so.

The TV Land series is an adaptation of a web series by the same name from the comedy group The Katydids (because all of their first names are all Caity-ish in real life). The web series is infamous for its raunchy, straightforward humor, and it’s conceivable that it could have trouble finding an audience on TV Land. Even with its Younger lead-in.

However, I liked it. I laughed at it, and not just because I like my humor a smidge on the smutty side. And I’m speaking not from a TV blogger’s point of view, but as someone who is both a writer and a teacher. Actually a college professor. Watching the series pilot may not have been the comedic moment I had hoped, but it felt plenty familiar, even if there is at least 10 years between my students and those at Filmore Elementary School.

Here are six universal truths from episode one of Teachers:

Meetings and Committees
Sure, every profession has meetings. But school meetings look more like hostage situations than any sort of productive organization. And everybody hates it.

The teachers of Filmore Elementary are in a meeting about an anti-bullying program and nobody cares, wants to participate, or even finds value in the idea at all. Ms. Feldman is asleep in the bean bag chair, for heaven’s sake.

Principal Pearson tries to extort them with threats of cutbacks, which is really the only thing that makes them relent to even participating with the anti-bullying committee, unfortunately named S.T.A.B (Stop Teasing and Bullying). It turns into such a shit show after that, who can even tell if it’s worth the trouble or not.

Yup. Sounds about right.

Teacher bonding
Nothing brings you closer to someone than shared trauma, and teachers can attest to this in a big way. It’s like coal miners who go into the mines strangers, but emerge brothers. Only someone who has experienced the horrors can truly understand.

So, when Ms. Adler tells the others about Lauren Zelnick putting fetal pigs in her locker when they were in high school, they just get that she needs to be head of the anti-bullying program. Like, she really needs it. And when Lauren Zelnick shows up to speak at that program, dressed as the ‘bully goat,” they (mostly) have Ms. Adler’s back when her archnemisis brings back her old nickname, Dumb Fatter.

Working your own crap out on your students
It’s hard not to let your personal stuff bleed over into your work life. But unlike other folks, teachers don’t have a cubicle to retreat to, so they can cry and eat their feelings in peace. There is bound to be some collateral damage in the form of oversharing with your students. It happens.

When Ms. Watson’s boyfriend “changed the Netflix password on [their] shared Netflix two days after [they] broke up,” and took her to Nashville for bottomless mimosas two days BEFORE they broke up, it’s perfectly fine that she’s still mourning their relationship 14 months later. And obviously she needs to talk it out with their students. She must warn them.

It’s just common sense that kids understand that a mimosa is “something women in their 20s order so that they can feel better about drinking in the morning.” And her students don’t need her to read them fairy tales, because “they’re all a lie.”

The delicate dance that is evaluation and feedback
No teacher wants to hurt a student’s feelings. Well, maybe Ms. Snap does, who berates her young student for not giving her enough cheekbones in the picture she drew of her, but most of us try our hardest not to be life-ruiners.

It’s tough. So much of what comes across my desk is such dreck, that I’m tempted to just tell them to skip the middleman and toss it straight in the garbage.

It’s really that serious.

Passive-aggressive politics
When you’re in the trenches with folks, you get to see the good, but you also get to see the bad, and the teachers at Filmore know how to keep each other in check. After all the bullying and committee stuff, the ladies try to set a good example with a compliment wall, but just like the students turn it into an insult wall, the teachers have a hard time giving and accepting compliments, saying things like, “you handled your breakup really well,” or “for someone with not a lot to offer, you sure have a lot of confidence.”

You can’t be nice all the time.

Silent freetime
This is a real thing. I swear. Even in upper-level college courses, I sometimes give the students time to “write and think on your own,” because, you know, it’s hard to talk for three hours straight, and even harder to hear them talk.

Just like those second graders in Ms. Feldman’s class, the minute I take my eyes off those 20-year-olds, they lose all sense of purpose. Most of them go limp like dishrags, staring through dead eyes at Twitter, SnapChat, and iMessage.

At least it’s quiet.

This was not the best pilot episode I’ve ever seen, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. This little show has the potential to be pretty great. Like I’ve done with so many other shows in the past, I’m gonna hold my breath for it to be great.

Expression Of JoyThe Brady Bunch: Groovy! The Bradys: Ritual hugging Married…With Children: ”Oh, great.” Thirtysomething: ”Of course I’m happy for you. Really. But what about me? Why does it always have to be about you? The Flintstones: ”Yabba-dabba doo

Expression Of Rage

The Brady Bunch: ”Hmmm…” The Bradys: ”If you back away from something you really want, then you’re a quitter!” (the angriest any Brady has ever been) Married…With Children: ”Aaagh, God, take me from this miserable life!” Thirtysomething: ”I’m not angry, OK?” The Flintstones: ”Willllmaaaa!”

Typical ProblemThe Brady Bunch: Marcia and her rival both want to be the prom queen. The Bradys: Bobby gets paralyzed. Married…With Children: Al doesn’t buy his family Christmas presents. Thirtysomething: Nancy gets cancer. The Flintstones: Fred and Barney are staying out too late.

Typical SolutionThe Brady Bunch: The prom committee decides to have two queens. The Bradys: Bobby gets married. Married…With Children: They hate him. Thirtysomething: If only we knew… The Flintstones: Wilma and Betty decide to follow them.

Attitude Toward SexThe Brady Bunch: Never heard of it The Bradys: Omigod — even Cindy does it! Married…With Children: Peg: Yes. Al: No. Thirtysomething: They didn’t get all those kids by accident. The Flintstones: Prehistoric

How Spouses FightThe Brady Bunch: They don’t. The Bradys: Infrequently, but it happens Married…With Children: Tooth and nail Thirtysomething: They stop talking The Flintstones: Fred and Barney go bowling while Wilma and Betty max out their charge cards.

How Kids Get Into TroubleThe Brady Bunch: Greg takes a puff of a cigarette. The Bradys: Carol’s grandson steals her business cards and sticks them in the spokes of Bobby’s wheelchair. Married…With Children: By committing felonies Thirtysomething: Ethan plays with a forbidden toy rocket. The Flintstones: They don’t.

How They’re Punished

The Brady Bunch: ”It’s not what you did, honey — it’s that you couldn’t come to us.” The Bradys ”Next time, ask.” Married…With Children: By the authorities Thirtysomething: It blows up in his face. The Flintstones: They’re not.

What Family Does For FunThe Brady Bunch: Takes special three-part vacations to Hawaii and the Grand Canyon The Bradys: Has flashbacks Married…With Children: Exchanges insults Thirtysomething: Talks The Flintstones: Attends showings of The Monster at the Bedrock Drive-In

Unsolved MysteriesThe Brady Bunch: How exactly did Carol’s first husband and Mike’s first wife die? The Bradys: What’s with Marcia’s new face and Bobby’s blonde hair Married…With Children: What kind of hair spray does Peg use? Thirtysomething: Why did Nancy take Elliot back? What do Gary and Susanna see in each other? The Flintstones: How does Barney’s shirt stay on if he has no shoulders? Where do Fred and Wilma plug in their TV?

Worst BehaviorThe Brady Bunch: The Brady children once made Alice feel under-appreciated.

Best Reason To WatchThe Brady Bunch: This is what life should be. The Bradys: They’re all grown-ups now! Married…With Children: Terry Rakolta hates it. Thirtysomething (Tie) This is your life. This isn’t your life. The Flintstones: This is what life might have been.

Best Reason Not To WatchThe Brady Bunch: Blurred vision from rerun overdoses. The Bradys: You’re all grown-ups now. Married…With Children: She has a point. Thirtysomething: After a while, you think it’s real. The Flintstones: The Simpsons